An Instant Credibility-Builder for The CEO

Words have power. Words are power. . . .
Your words can spit venom or they can mend a broken soul.

—Mohammed Qahtani

In a recent newsletter on the power of language in the CEO role, I argued that CEOs should limit the phrase “I have to” in their leadership vocabulary.

Today I’d like to champion a phrase we should be using more: “I don’t know,” and its close cousin “I was wrong.”

These two expressions are not admissions of defeat. Rather, they signal that you put growth and transparency over the preservation of your ego.

Once we become CEOs, the world tends to treat us as all-knowing. We may begin to buy into this narrative ourselves. Our innate inclination to shield our egos kicks in, and we worry that saying things like “I don’t know” and “I was wrong” will make us look ignorant or weak.

But this is a trap to avoid for two main reasons:

1. Acknowledging your limits builds credibility. Every time an employee sees you bluster through a blind spot or ignore a mistake you made, they lose more fait…